On Thursday, justices from the Second Appellate District upheld a ruling made by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, dismissing a challenge by cities in Orange and Los Angeles counties regarding the state’s allocation of required affordable housing.
The Orange County Council of Governments, along with the cities of Redondo Beach, Lakewood, Torrance, Cerritos, Downey, and Whittier, appealed the judge’s dismissal of their previous appeal on the allocation of affordable housing in the region.
In August 2019, the state Department of Housing assigned a total of 1,344,740 dwelling units of affordable housing for the Southern California region for this decade. However, the Southern California Association of Governments objected, leading to a final assignment of 1,341,827 units.
The plaintiffs argued that the allocated amount was twice as much as needed by the end of the decade, claiming that the state’s calculation was based on an inaccurate population forecast and other factors that were not considered in previous housing cycles.
The justices referenced a precedent from a 2008 Irvine case, which determined that courts are not allowed to arbitrate disputes in this process. The intention is to promote cooperation between the state and local governments through a series of reviews, keeping the courts out of the matter.
According to the ruling, lawmakers intended to prevent traditional judicial remedies from challenging a local government’s regional housing needs allocation in order to avoid disrupting local planning through litigation. The justices stated that this precedent applies to the current case, as the legislation reflects a clear intent to limit judicial intervention and address California’s affordable housing shortage promptly.
The justices also noted that a favorable ruling for one city would disrupt the planning for neighboring cities and regions in a domino effect.
Orange County Board Chairman Don Wagner, who is also vice chairman of the Orange County Council of Governments, expressed disappointment but not surprise with the ruling. He believes that the current legal system favors bureaucratic control by Sacramento special interests over responsible local control.
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